UB Women's Cross Country Announces Awards

Muster, Bozich, Chilson, Veith earn accolades

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's cross country squad announced its team awards for the 2008 season. Head coach Vicki Mitchell made the following presentations: Ellen Muster was selected as the Top Newcomer; Jackie Bozich earned the Most Improved Player Award; Brittany Chilson received the Coaches’ Award; and Mary Veith was named Most Outstanding for the third consecutive season.

Ellen Muster

The Top Newcomer Award is presented to the individual student-athlete who distinguishes herself as the most talented new player on the team or the individual who accomplishes the greatest achievements as a first-year player. Muster, a redshirt freshman, competed in six meets for the Bulls. She set a season-best 5K time of 18:10.6 to finish 32nd at the Mid-American Conference Championships. The time erased two full minutes from her previous 5K best earlier in the year.

Jackie Bozich

The Most Improved Player Award is presented to the student-athlete who has made the greatest stride or improvement in her performance from the previous season or from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. Bozich raced in all seven meets last season and turned in a season-best 5K time of 18:48.7 at the MAC Championships to place 68th overall. The time took 66 seconds off her previous best of 19:54 set at the season-opening Tommy Evans Invitational where she placed 11th of 58 runners.

Brittany Chilson

The Coaches’ Award is selected by the head coach and is given to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the team virtues as defined by the head coach. The recipient is one who stands out in dedication, commitment, unselfishness and enthusiasm towards helping the team improve. Chilson appeared in all seven meets for the Bulls. She set a season-best 5K time of 19:06.8, the first sub-20 minute time of her college career, at the MAC Championships. Chilson's other 5K times for the season were 20:09 at the Tommy Evans Invitational and 20:19 at the UB Invitational.

Mary Veith

The Most Outstanding Award is given to the student-athlete who makes the most significant contribution to the accomplishments of the team through her skills and leadership. Veith earned All-MAC honors for the third straight season as she finished third at the MAC Championships in a season-best 17:16.4. She also competed in several 6K races in 2008 with a top finish of 21:21 at the Paul Short Invitational earning 37th place of 301 runners and was 40th of 247 at the NCAA Northeast Regionals in 22:34.4. Veith posted three top 10 finishes in the 2008 season for the Bulls as she was UB's top placer in all six races that she entered .In the classroom, she was honored with a spot on the Academic All-MAC cross country team for the third straight year.

The Bulls finished seventh of 12 schools at the MAC Championships and 17th of 34 squads at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. The seventh-place finish at the league championship was the second-best placing by the Bulls since UB joined the MAC in 1999.